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SpongeBob's foghorn alarm clock rings, waking him up in the morning. He tells his pet, Gary the Snail that he must be in good shape because this particular day is important. He jumps off of his diving board and lands in his pants. He goes to his exercise room and lifts a bar-weight (which is actually two stuffed animals). Afterwards, SpongeBob exclaims that he is ready.
He runs outside and down the street to the Krusty Krab, repeatedly saying, "I'm ready" while his neighbor and best friend, Patrick Star, cheers him on. SpongeBob sees the 'Help Wanted' sign on the Krusty Krab window. He then declares that he is ready to obtain the job, which he has been dreaming of for years; however, he loses his confidence. Patrick convinces him to apply for the job, and so SpongeBob does, thereby declaring he is ready three more times. Squidward Tentacles, the head cashier, is cleaning the window (above his head the word 'loser' is written on the glass pane). Squidward sees that SpongeBob wants the job, and so he tells restaurant-owner Eugene H. Krabs that SpongeBob does not qualify for the job. SpongeBob walks into the Krusty Krab and asks for the job. To get rid of him, Mr. Krabs tells SpongeBob that he can join the 'Krusty Crew' if he passes a "test"--which is to obtain a 'Hydrodynamic Spatula with Port and Starboard Attachments and a Turbo-Drive'.

As soon as SpongeBob leaves, six buses drop off a large crowd of hungry anchovies. They barge into the Krusty Krab, demanding Krabby Patties. Attempting to keep things in order, Squidward complains about their behavior and then requests that there be a single-file line in front of the cash register. But the anchovies vehemently protest, forming a riot of angry anchovies set to resemble a stormy sea. This forces Squidward and Mr. Krabs to climb up the 'mast'. Suddenly, SpongeBob arrives, flying by with his 'Hydrodynamic Spatula with Port and Starboard Attachments and a Turbo-Drive'. Mr. Krabs is flabbergasted at the fact that SpongeBob actually passed the "test". SpongeBob flies into the kitchen and satisfies the needs of the angry anchovies by making a huge amount of Krabby Patties.
When the last anchovy gets its Krabby Patty, Mr. Krabs is delighted. He hires SpongeBob by welcoming him to the Krusty Crew and giving him a name tag. At the end, Patrick walks in and asks for a Krabby Patty, which causes SpongeBob to race into the kitchen and make a huge stream of Krabby Patties, which then hits Patrick and sends him flying out of the restaurant & Squidward begins yelling to Mr. Krabs, saying, "Mr. Krabs! Mr. Krabs! Mr. Krabs, come see your new employee.".

This episode is the first, so it has many differences to the rest of the series. However, the original version of the episode had many other minor differences corrected later. For example, this episode (along with Pickles, Employee of the Month, and One Krab's Trash) is the only episode where SpongeBob's bed is on the right. Differences in voices are another example. SpongeBob's voice is slightly lower and Patrick's is deeper. Designs and colors are also different. For example, SpongeBob has fewer holes than in newer episodes and brighter yellow skin, Mr. Krabs' eyelids are pinkish red opposed to red, Mr. Krabs' left (right from our perspective) eye winks while he laughs, Squidward's complexion is brighter, his laugh is different, and the comedic "splat" sound is different. Gary's eye pupils and irises are smaller with a different tone of voice in the "meow" (although Tom Kenny claims to use a new "meow" for each episode where Gary is shown meowing). Squidward also appears to have rows of sticks behind his house. Differences in SpongeBob's house are also present in this episode, but not in others, such as there is only one window in the front. Also, SpongeBob's alarm clock has the same ship horn sound but echoes. The changes were made when the series officially aired.

The animation was not as high quality unlike the following episodes, as the rapid movements made by SpongeBob. When he was bouncing off the walls, roof, and floor of the Krusty Krab it just showed a yellow square. When the anchovies were jumping up and down they were just blue and brown (mostly blue) finger-shaped ovals.

Initially, the debut episode was not included on the SpongeBob season 1 DVD set, presumably because of music licensing issues involving the aforementioned song. However, the episode has since been made available on the DVD release of the third season as a bonus feature,and on the 10 Happiest Moments DVD as a bonus episode.

Squidward, Mr. Krabs, Patrick, and SpongeBob all have a different tone in skin color than in other episodes.

Mr. Krabs' eyelids are pink in this episode. In every other episode, they are red.